MAKEUP RULES: Inner glow

Think you’ve tried everything to create the perfect complexion? Covering your canvas is one thing, but being a natural beauty is another. Create an inner glow that exudes through your skin, giving you radiance and luminescence. These skin-healthy food items will not only help you sustain a healthy lifestyle but will help you say bye-bye to heavy makeup.

Let’s start with everybody’s favorite: chocolate. Dark chocolate, especially with a cocoa percentage of 70 or higher, will fill you up with ultra antioxidant-enriched flavonols, which help improve skin’s brightness, allowing it to glow.

Get your blood flowing and create the perfect natural rosy blush with pomegranates. Pomegranates are filled with polyphenols that help maintain a healthy glow by fighting off free radicals that can damage and dull our skin.

Vitamin E protects your top layer of skin from the harsh rays of the sun. Sunflower seeds are high in Vitamin E and essential fatty acids that help keep your skin hydrated, protected, and flake-free.

Tomato juice is our knight in shining armor when it comes to UVA/UVB protection with a natural value of SPF 5 per 8-ounce glass. Tomato juice will also fight off dull, lifeless skin.

Vitamin C is another skin-protecting antioxidant that saves skin from damage due to free radicals and environmental stressors. Orange juice is one of the prime foods for Vitamin C. Vitamin C also helps create one of the body’s main structural proteins: collagen. If you’re feeling a little more exotic, try the other Vitamin C powerhouse: the kiwi.

Water is by far the most essential liquid our body should consume. As always, we should drink eight to 10 glasses of water each day. Water is a life force that helps regenerate our cells, removes impurities and toxins, and removes waste. If you combine water with some acne-fighting antioxidant and phytonutrient-rich green or black tea, you have yourself an unbeatable combination.

Tip: Consuming all of these foods is great, but for a double dose of glowing power, apply these to the skin topically.

Trick: If all else fails, use Almay Clear Complexion Concealer, which contains salicylic acid, aloe, and chamomile to soothe and restore skin and reduce redness. This little concealer packs a punch and will eliminate the extra unwanted blemishes to help you glow for years to come.